Ohio Gov. John Kasich broke with President Trump on Sunday, touting his support for NBA star and Ohio native Lebron James over Michael Jordan.
“I also disagreed with the president because all around, Lebron, I think a little better than M.J.,” Kasich said on ABC”s “This Week.”
Trump attacked LeBron James in a late-night tweet Friday, calling him the “dumbest man on television” and touted his support for “Mike,” widely inferred to be a reference to retired NBA star Michael Jordan.
The Ohio governor was quick to fire back at Trump’s insulting tweets about James, who was recently made the jump from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Rather than criticizing @KingJames, we should be celebrating him for his charity work and efforts to help kids,” Kasich said.
Rather than criticizing @KingJames, we should be celebrating him for his charity work and efforts to help kids.
By the way, all-around he’s better than Michael Jordan. That’s a fact.
— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) August 4, 2018
Trump’s critical tweet about James came after the NBA star interviewed CNN’s Don Lemon earlier this week, while James spoke about the opening of an I Promise School for at-risk children in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
In the interview, James said he believes Trump is using sports to cause division throughout the nation. “What I’ve noticed over the past few months … he’s kinda used sports to kinda divide us, and that’s something that I can’t relate to,” James said during the interview.
James said he “can’t sit back and say nothing,” but also said he would never be willing to meet with Trump.
“I would never sit across from him,” he quipped.
